Two Lost Ships
by Sirius04L
Summary: James Kirk and Leonard McCoy are used to going it alone, but even they cannot fight the forces that bring them together; no matter how stubborn they are. Kirk/McCoy
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Leonard H. McCoy ran his fingers through his hair as he read over the latest round of results. No progress had been made, just like the five tests before that. _Seems like more_, he thought to himself. Nothing that he and his team came up with was working and they had a life at stake. _Lives_, Leonard reminded himself. There were more lives than just his father's depending on this research. He pulled up a set of older results and began comparing them. There had to be some sort of clue; a key that would help him find a cure before time ran out. He wasn't just under the pressure of saving a life, but the board wouldn't fund him forever.

"Doctor?"

"Hmmm?" he asked without looking up from the PADD.

"We have something that you need to see." Leonard looked over at the nurse. The look on her face said it all; a kid. He got up and followed her and as they walked the familiar hallways Leonard looked at the info on the PADD she had handed him.

"What in the blue hell happened to this kid?"

Nurse Kaur's voice was stony, "He said he fell down the stairs on his way out of the house. Said someone dropped him off but no one helped him inside."

"Did he crawl in?" he asked looking at the possible bruising to the patient's knee.

"Walked, well, limped in with a smile on his face before he passed out. I didn't find any traces of internal bleeding, just some bruising." By the time she finished answering her voice had become sympathetic and Leonard nodded.

He searched through the patient's medical history and the permanent frown on his face became even more pronounced as he read over the list of injuries. All of them were suspicious; fractures, concussions, and bruises were a common thing and the list of allergies that came attached to the file was just as long, if not longer. There was a year missing from his file that was locked by the Federation and that caused the Doctor to audibly growl. He finally took in the name and looked at the nurse. "Kirk?"

Nurse Kaur nodded and stopped in front of the room. "Yes, Doctor."

Leonard simply nodded and walked in the room. On the bed was one of the most broken and beautiful things that Leonard had ever seen. The teen lying there was tall, nearly as tall as Leonard himself, who stood just over six feet, tanned skin that would have been flawless if it weren't for the scars and bruises marring it. He was well muscled, though not fully developed, and Leonard could see by the cracks and calluses on his hands that the kid knew what work was and how to handle himself in a fight. His hair was bleached blond by the sun and there was a light dusting of freckles on his cheeks, shoulders, and chest. The Doctor looked at the clothes that has been cut off and saw dirt-stained and holey jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

He looked back down at the preliminary scan that had been conducted and started to write out the best course of treatment and medications that Kirk could take without having a reaction. Leonard took a seat, charting everything out and studied Kirk's file more closely in order to avoid any other possible problems. He called Kaur and told her what equipment to bring him so that he could get started. Leonard was checking Kirk's vitals again when he heard a soft whine. He looked down and was met with a pair of blinding blue eyes. They reminded Leonard of the sky as the sun was setting, that last sliver of blue that was trying to stay seen. The eyes were cloudy but the kid looked alert and ready to bolt.

Leonard cupped the boy's cheek and forced him to focus on his face. "Shhh…calm down, kid. You're okay. I'm just gonna patch you up."

"'m not a kid," he mumbled trying to sit up.

Leonard placed his hands on his shoulder. "Look, you're in no condition to get up. No one here is going to hurt you."

Kirk looked around the room and studied him for a few moments before relaxing under him. "He's not gonna find me here." The sentence was somewhere between a question and a statement.

The Doctor shook his head. When the kid nodded Leonard placed a regenerator on his head to jump start the healing process. "So," Leonard said to make conversation, "What should I call you if 'kid' doesn't work?"

"Jim." Jim's voice was rough, probably because of the bruises ringing his neck.

"All right. Jim, I'm Doctor McCoy. I'm going to be treating you today. You're probably going to be in here for a while." Leonard ran his fingers over Jim's side feeling for contusions or any sort of reaction. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Leonard nodded writing something down. "How old're you?"

Leonard raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Old enough to call you a kid if I want to."

Jim laughed weakly and closed his eyes as it turned into a cough. "You're what? Twenty-eight?"

The Doctor frowned and jabbed Jim's neck with a hypo full of pain relievers.

The teen rubbed his neck and glowered at the Doctor, who had a twisted and satisfied smiled on his face. "What the hell was that for?"

"I'm twenty-three," he said simply and went back to examining him. His fingers ran over Jim's back and he felt Jim shiver under him. "Cold?"

He snorted, "I've been worse. So, am I going to live, Bones?"

"Yeah, you're going to live…Bones?"

Jim nodded and laid back when Leonard guided him back. "Like 'Sawbones' but that's too long, so, Bones."

Leonard shook his head figuring that the meds were going to his head and continued cataloguing injuries, both old and new. When Jim hadn't opened his mouth for a few minutes he looked up and saw that Jim had fallen asleep. Leonard let himself smile softly and finished. His fingers carded through Jim's hair before he left and went to enter everything in the main computer and update Jim's file.

He checked on Jim later and saw that he was still asleep and that his pain was being kept under control. Leonard walked to the Nurse's Station and left instructions that if Jim had any trouble that he was to be called. He walked to his office once his shift was over and packed his bag.

Leonard drove home and welcomed the sight of large oak trees and the old-style plantation house and he could just make out the run down barn. He parked his car and made his way inside and followed his normal routine; he placed his jacket on the end table, put his bag in the living room, and then made his way upstairs to see his dad.

He walked into the master bedroom and saw the in-home nurse, Jocelyn, putting down a glass of water. "How is he?"

She turned and gave him a cheery smile, her green eyes catching the light. "He's tired. Your father didn't think that he needed to get some rest this afternoon and snuck out on the balcony."

"He's stubborn."

"Like someone else I know."

Leonard smirked and shrugged. "I have no idea who you're talking about." His eyes went over her lithe frame before going back to his father. "You can go and relax if you want. I'll sit with him for a while."

She bit her lip standing next to him, her body turned towards him. "I don't mind staying up here if you want some company."

He shook his head, "Go on, you canceled your plans this weekend because something came up, go ahead and take some time for yourself." Once she left the room, giving Leonard another smile, he took the seat next to the bed. "You're going to give that poor girl a heart attack, pops."

"No," David McCoy answered as he sat up slowly, "if you ever smiled back at her she would have a heart attack."

The younger man rolled his eyes. "Right, because I never smile. I just have a lot on my mind."

David watched his son's face and saw the worry trapped there. "Something happen at the hospital today?"

Leonard nodded, a scowl forming on his face. "We had a kid walk in today; gave us some story about falling down the stairs, like that ever works. But he let something slip about a guy finding him. There's evidence of past abuse. He's so…" he trailed off as he tried to find the right word to describe Jim. While he had looked young, there was something about his eyes besides the color that had caught Leonard's attention. "Hardened…he's so hardened looking and he's only seventeen. He was living with a step father but after that there's nothing in his file."

His father frowned, obviously trying to piece things together as well. "When does his file stop?"

"At age fifteen."

David nodded, dismissing possibilities in his head. "How long are you keeping the kid there?"

"At least a week."

"The best advice that I can give you is to see if you can get him to open up. Who knows, if you smile maybe he'll talk more, trust you."

Leonard nodded, not bothering to comment on the playful jab his father sent at him and rifled through the various bottles on the night stand. Carefully, he mixed the cocktail of drugs that he and his father had come up with in order to keep the disease at bay. "All right, pops, you know the drill." He managed a soft smiled as his father grumbled but tilted his head to the side. Leonard kissed his dad's head before he covered him up. "Get some rest and call if you need me. I'll check on you before I leave for the hospital in the morning and Jocelyn is right next door."

David rolled his eyes and wormed his way further under the covers. "Yes, dad."

"And you wonder where I get it from," he said laughing. "Now sleep." Leonard walked out after opening the door to Jocelyn's room. He made his way to his room and changed into a pair of flannel pants and one of his old college t-shirts before settling in the living room with a bowl of cereal. The news played quietly in the background while he ate his dinner and read over research articles.

He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes and he saw Kirk's name mixed in with his other paper work. Leonard remembered the feeling of Jim's skin under his hands the almost trust that had been in his eyes as he examined him. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the guilt from his thoughts and forced himself to focus on his work.

**A/N - I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, please let me know what you think. Any and all mistakes are mine. **


	2. Chapter 2

Leonard was woken up with a too-small hand shaking his arm and not-blue-enough eyes staring at him. "Doctor McCoy? Leonard? It's almost ten."

"Shit…already?" He got up and stretched; his back popping in a few places. _Getting to old for this crap, falling asleep on a couch_, he thought and rushed upstairs and took a shower before changing. Leonard checked on his dad and hurried to the car, taking the protein bar that Jocelyn held out to him. He drove faster than he normally would have (so the speed limit) and parked in his space. He ran in and took a seat at his desk and took a deep breath.

Kaur walked in and smirked. "Running late this morning, Doctor?" she asked as she handed him a PADD that contained updates on patients he was currently seeing.

"Why isn't Kirk on here?"

"He was changed to general care since he doesn't require a specialist and you were just on E.R. duty yesterday."

Leonard frowned and remembered what his father said. "Put him back on my patient list. I want to oversee his care." She nodded and walked out, leaving him to go through his messages and reports. He made his rounds, smiling at his patients as well as he could and took a few minutes to chat with them and some of their family members. He walked in to check on Jim and saw that he was still sleeping so he merely checked the readings and machines. Leonard couldn't stop himself and ran his fingers through his hair before walking out and going to the labs.

He spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon setting up and conducting experiments, taking notes, and looking for something that would point him in the right direction. That afternoon he met with the board and went over the research that he and his team had been conducting, showing them the progress that they had made even if it was miniscule. When he left he was scowling, the men and women had looked doubtful about the progress that they had been making. Once again he walked the wing, making his way to his patients and finding Jim had finally been moved to a room closer to his office.

This time, Jim was awake and trying to sit up. When he saw Leonard he frowned and fell back. "I thought these things were supposed to make this faster, not torture me."

The Doctor laughed and checked the machine. "If you didn't move around so much you'd be done with this part." His eyes scanned Jim's body briefly before meeting his eyes. "I've heard that you've been terrorizing my favorite nurse."

"Kaur?" he asked, trying to appear innocent. "I can see why she's your favorite."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Jim shrugged and closed his eyes as Leonard ran his hands over his skin. "She's pretty is all." He jumped when the Doctor's hands brushed a ticklish spot. "Don't you have a scanner to do that for you?"

Leonard laughed and nodded. "I do, but I don't trust them. I use them to back up what I find and to double check. My dad did it this way and it worked for him." He could feel his voice soften and falter as he mentioned his father.

"What happened to him?"

"Huh?" Leonard asked taking a seat and finishing his notes.

"Your dad."

"Oh, he's sick. That's my primary focus right now, the research into the cure. I don't see many patients at the moment." He looked up and saw the bright blue eyes staring at him. "What?"

Jim looked down when he found the hazel eyes staring at him with curiosity. "Nurse Kaur said that you wanted to be my doctor." When Leonard nodded Jim looked him fully in the eyes again. "Why?"

He paused, trying to figure out a way to put it without sounding creepy. "Well, it's refreshing to have a patient that doesn't require surgery—plus I noticed that you seem to dislike doctors, so I figured that having you passed around to whoever was on duty wouldn't do you much good."

The blush he felt must have been showing on his face because Jim smiled widely saying, "Aw, Bones, you do care."

"Don't push it, kid," he mumbled but a gruff smile appeared on his face. "Now, how are you really feeling today? Don't lie."

Jim frowned. "I wasn't going to lie." At the look on Leonard's face he rolled his eyes. "Okay, so I was going to twist the truth a bit. I feel like shit—to put it nicely. Everything hurts, especially my back and head. If I had to rate my pain on a scale on one to ten, I'd give it a seven."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow. "That all?"

"Maybe an eight."

Leonard softened his look. "Been through this before, Jim?"

He shrugged, "Once or twice."

The older man pulled his chair closer to the bed and leaned forward so that he could rest his elbows on his knew and focused his eyes on Jim. "Care to tell me anything about you?"

Jim smiled and his eyes lit up. "Well, my middle name is totally embarrassing, I'm around six-one, like to read old fashioned books, and I do odd jobs to earn a few extra bucks."

"Really?" he caught the laugh the bubbled out of Jim as he raised his eyebrow again.

"Yeppers?" It raised higher at the word and Jim's smile softened. "Like I said, I've been through this before. I'm not going to be sent to some shelter or random home. I'm not going through that again."

"There's nothing in your file about that."

"It happened either way."

Slowly, he lifted one of his hands and rested it on Jim's arm. "I want to help you."

The younger man stared at Leonard, looking at him as if he was a puzzle that he just couldn't figure out. "We'll see."

"Look, I won't let them send you to a shelter. You seem like you take pretty good care of yourself and if you don't want that I won't bring protective services in. You can trust me." Leonard watched him and Jim nodded gently.

"Thanks, Jim," he said. He put his PADD down and leaned back in his chair. He pulled his outer coat off and rolled up his shirt sleeves. When he looked back up, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt, he saw Jim gazing at him again. "What?"

"What're you doing?"

"I'm off, my shift ended thirty minutes ago."

Jim leaned forward slowly, stretching his back but not taking his eyes off of Leonard. "Then why did you come to see me?"

"You're my patient, I wanted to check up on you."

"Why are you staying?"

"I'm hoping that you'll tell me something about you."

He nodded and smiled. "So, everything I say now is off the record?"

Leonard nodded. "Yeah, why?" he asked looking confused.

"Because, you're looking pretty hot, Bones."

The Doctor rolled his eyes but he couldn't help the blush that crept up his face or the thrilled feeling that he got in his gut. The _damn-it Jim _that came out had the younger man laughing.

Over the next few days Leonard found himself looking forward to his time with Jim. He would examine him, run him through a few tests and let him know about his recovery and then he would stay after his shift and just chat with Jim. He tried learning things about him but he never got too far and the conversation always seemed to turn to him. So far he had told Jim about his childhood and the research he was conducting. All the he had learned about Jim was that he was smart, probably too smart for his own good but Leonard thought it was refreshing.

Nurse Kaur had pointed out that he was dressing differently; he was wearing his shirts opened a little more, his sleeves were always rolled up and his pants clung a little more. Leonard blushed and just said that he felt like changing things up a bit. No one seemed to mind, especially Jim. Leonard wouldn't admit it, but he loved the happy, bright eyed look that Jim would get when he walked into the room. The appreciative glance and hungry gaze definitely didn't have anything to do with it.

At home, Leonard didn't have time to think about his blond patient, but he did anyway. He was kept busy with his father and Jocelyn was always there to give him a smile. He'd follow his routine but started spending more time with his father and half the time he couldn't stop talking about Jim and David could see the change in his son when they talked about him. At first Leonard would have the guilty look at talking about a patient that way but the smile was never far away, especially when David would drop hints that he had no problem seeing his son with another man. It always left Leonard with this feeling and he knew that he would have to make some sort of decision soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Jim was getting better and there was no way to deny that and Leonard knew that he couldn't keep Jim here any longer. When the day came for the younger man to be released, Leonard walked into the room and was greeted by a half naked and smiling Jim. "Ready to get out of here?"

"As soon as I find the shirt they brought me," he said looking through the rumpled blankets until he found the t-shirt. Jim slipped it on and flashed Leonard another smile. "'kay, now I'm ready."

Leonard led him out of the hospital, his eyes flickering to him every few steps. "Need a ride somewhere?"

Jim eyed him before nodding. "Sure."

They got into the car and Jim gave Leonard the address. As they drove he could feel Jim watching him and he could feel something constrict in his chest. "What?"

He shrugged, "You tell me, Bones. You're the one that wants to ask me something."

The Doctor frowned, "What if I do?"

"Man up and ask it." Jim just laughed when Leonard scrunched his face up and mimicked him. "Seriously, what's up?"

Leonard gripped the steering wheel tighter and bit his lip. "Well, you said you do odd jobs to make money."

"Yeah."

"I have some stuff at the house that would probably keep you busy for a while. How are you with power tools?"

"Good."

"Lawn-mower?"

"Great."

Leonard nodded. "You can start this weekend."

Jim smiled and nodded. "Just give me a time and place."

"I'll pick you up at eight. That work?"

"Sure. Oh, pull up right here." Jim undid the seat belt and climbed out. "Thanks, Bones. I'll see you Saturday." Leonard watched Jim walk in the building before taking off and heading home.

He drove the quiet country roads, his mind going over his day. Automatically, he turned onto his drive and followed the rows of trees until he parked in front of the house. Leonard walked in and just dropped his stuff inside the door. Jocelyn gave him a questioning look, but he just waved her off and walked upstairs to see his dad. "Hey, pops."

David smiled tiredly and looked at his son. He could see the lines around his eyes and the nervous way he was worrying his lip. "How was work?"

"Can't complain; got a lot done in the lab today. Things are looking good with this set of tests. I'll have the readouts next week and run a couple more trials. If everything is safe we can give it a shot."

"What else is on your mind?" Leonard frowned at him and David rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look. I can see something else is going on."

Leonard sighed and leaned back, his fingers running through his hair and his palms dug into his eyes. "You always could read me like a book. Jim got released today. I dropped him off at a place down town. I mean, the place looks like it's going to fall down on top of him. I don't even want to imagine what the inside of it looks like."

"Well, he's young and on his own. He probably doesn't make good money, especially if all he does are odd jobs."

Leonard nodded and leaned back in his chair. "I offered him some work here. Ever since Joe left for Star Fleet we haven't found anyone to take over, plus he says that he can do a little bit of everything."

His father raised his eyebrow and for once Leonard saw why other found the expression annoying. "Is that why you offered him work?" When Leonard coughed and blushed David smirked. "He's almost legal."

"He's a kid!"

David rolled his eyes, the movement looking awkward coming from a man of his age. "He's young. Don't give me that look, you're barely seven years older and from what you've told me he's less of a kid then someone your age. We can't compare him to you because you've been an old man since you were nine."

Leonard growled at his father. "He's still immature."

"Which is something you need, but can you blame him? We know he's been abused, been on his own for a while, and since a chunk of his file is missing something big obviously happened. Maybe he just needs to be a kid sometimes."

Leonard nodded and helped his dad drink some water. "Either way, I just don't see something happening between us."

David let out a sigh and laid back. "You never know, son."

"Get some rest, pops," he said and gave his father his hypo. Leonard watched his dad sleep for a few minutes before he went downstairs and looked over some recent results and made notes on them.

When Saturday rolled around Leonard was thankful; instead of picturing Jim's blue eyes he would be seeing them. He drove to the building where he had dropped Jim off and saw him leaning against the side. His mouth went dry when he saw the younger boy, man, in worn out jeans and a t-shirt that had seen better days. He cleared his throat before opening the door. "Let's go."

Jim smiled a carefree smile. "Can't wait to get me home, Bones?"

The Doctor felt himself blush but he rolled his eyes and took off once Jim was fastened in. He took in the younger man's appearance and saw that he looked tired and a little haggard. "Rough week?"

His smile went from bright to tired and guarded. "A little."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

Leonard asked more questions but Jim deflected them easily. By the time they got to the McCoy farm, Leonard was laughing at the things Jim was saying instead of worrying about what was going on. Jim looked over the place and his eyes got wide. "This place is great."

"Been in the family for years."

"I lived on a farm in Iowa and…" he trailed off and shook his head before continuing. "I loved it. Want one when I'm older."

"It's a lot of work."

Jim shrugged. "I don't mind. It keeps me busy and lets me think, ya know?" Leonard nodded and smiled as they both got out of the car. "What do you want me to start with?"

"Let me show you the barn; once that gets cleared out you'll actually be able to get to everything. Our old guy used to bring his own stuff so all of ours is run down and a lot of stuff has just been stuffed in there over the years."

"What happened to him?"

"He went and joined Star Fleet."

Jim nodded and Leonard led him through the yard and to the back. "Like I said, everything is in here, just needs to be cleaned out. If it looks like trash it is so go ahead and get rid of it. I'll have someone come to clear the trash out once you've finished."

"You weren't kidding about this place, were you?"

"Like I said, nothing's been done with it for a while."

"No shit," Jim said looking at all the things that were piled up. The paint was faded and everything was covered with various amounts of dirt and mud. "What time do you want me out of here tonight?"

"Not too late, can't over work you," Leonard said smiling. "There's a trash can in the corner…somewhere."

"I think I'll need more than a trash can." He watched Leonard before nodding. "All right, Bones…see you if I make it out alive."


End file.
